Undergarment



Oct. 16, 1934.. Q w TOBIN 1,977,329

i UNDERGARMENT Filed July 8, 1955 1 z l i HIS A'II'OR EYS.

Patented ocr. 16,1934` PATENT vOFFICE UNDERGARMENT Clarke W. Tobin, South Orange, N. J., assigner to Gotham Silk Hosiery Company, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application July 8, 1933, Serial No. 679,477

1 Claim.

This invention relates particularly to underg-arments, and more especially to that type of undergarments which is manufactured or knit of light material, such as silk, rayon, and similar threads, where it is desired toproduce a light and flexible covering which is full-fashioned to the shape of the body of the wearer.

This invention is particularly adapted to th manufacture of underwear, in which the material is originally knit in flat form with an arrangement of loops or stitches to cause a more perfect fit of the article to the human form. The longitudinal selvage edges are brought together and fastened by elastic seams at necessary points.

The object of this invention is to produce an undergarment which can be readily manufactured on Yknitting machines like those heretofore ordinarily employed in the manufacture of fullfashioned silk hosiery, said material being knit in the form of interlacing loops which form successive wales in the fabric.

Heretofore, in the manufacture of undergarments, such as short pants, trunks, and other articles of that type, it has been necessary to cut out from a sheet of material elements to form the garment, such cutting necessarily producing rough or raveling edges. Such pieces of fabric when so formed have been usually stitched together on a usual sewing machine to form the desired garment. Such fabrics when used for this purpose f have usually consisted of woven or warp knit material which has been substantially inelastic or non-resilient.

The construction herein described provides a very elastic garment of silk or similar material, which will allow the fabric to expand or contract, according to variations in the size of the body of the wearer, and owing to elasticity of the fabric and its full-fashioned construction will enclose the outline of the body of the wearer without discomfort, and in a smooth and unwrinkled manner.

For a detailed description of one form of my invention which I at present deem preferable, reference may be had to the following specification and to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a garment substantially in the form as applied to the body of the wearer.

Figure 2 is a similar side View thereof.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the front portion of the garment illustrated in Fig. 1, and separated from the rear portion.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the rear portion of (Cl. 2-113) i the garment as shown in side View ln- Figure 2, the lower portions of both of the saidpieces being cut away to conserve space.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a flat piece of fabric which is of approximately rectangular outline and is shaped fullfashioned as indicated at 2 to conform the garment to the contour of the body adjacent the waist line and also adjacent the arm scyes as indicated at 3, the corners of the fabric being formed on an incline and slightly curved, as indicated at 4, to form said arm scyes. The top of the front and backportions may also be provided with ornamental or open-work stitches such as indicated at 5 and 6. These are preferably formed when the knitting is in progress by inserting a series of so-called picot stitches or transverse loops, as is well known in the art; the rows of picot stitches may be separated by a plurality of plain stitches to produce the desired eifect, as is also well known in the art.

The lower portion of the front and back sections of the garment is preferably provided with double thicknesses of fabric forming a reinforcement or hem, to strengthen the lower edge of thegarrnent, as is also well known in the art, as indicated at 7 and 8 in Figures 1 and 2.

The upper edges of the garment are preferably provided with bindings in the form of tapes which surround the arm seyes and form shoulder straps, as indicated at 9. The binding is also placed or stitched along the edges of the open-work portions 5 and 6, as indicated at 10 and 11.

If deemed preferable, the shoulder straps and bindings may be knit integral with the respective parts of fabric and the free ends of the straps then connected with the opposite parts in the desired positions.

The open-work portion 5 is preferably cut to form a curved breast portion before the binding 10 is applied thereto.

The fashioning ot the garment around the arm scyes, as indicated at 3, is also of reinforced material, which reinforcement is produced in any suitable way, such as by adding an extra thread or threads during the knitting of those portions of the garment.

The construction above described is extremely simple to manufacture, may be knitted as flat pieces on knitting machines of the usual ccnstruction, such as are employed in the manufacture of silk stockings, and consequently the fabric is preferably of silk, rayon, or other sheer, light material. (Owing to this method of knitting, all edges of the fabric are provided with selvages which prevent raveling, and by connect- .ing the longitudinal edges thereof, the entire garment may be completed` Owing to the fashioning portions, the shape thereof will conform to the shapeof the body of the wearer, and owing to the elasticity of the fabric, it is not necessary to manufacture a large number of sizes in order to fit the bodies of various sizes or circumferential breast measurements.

After the pieces as above described have been knitted on the at knitting machines, they are assembled to form the garment by the usual stitch method, as indicated in Figures 1 and 2. As a consequence of this construction, the reinforced portions, particularly around the arm scyes, will prevent tearing or rupturing of the fabric at places where the strains are unusually heavy, and the reinforcement and fashioning at such points will in many cases do away with the necessity of using shields at such points.

From the above description, it will be appreciated that I have provided a garment which is entirely free from raw or raveling edges; even though the open-work portion thereof may be slightly cut or rounded, the cross or transverse looped open-Work prevents raveling at such points, and the binding applied thereto eectually does away with any possible unattractive appearance which may exist by reason of said cutting.

Having thus described this form of my invention, I do not wish to be understood as being limited to the details of form and arrangements of parts thereof, for various changes may be made by those skilled in the art, consistent with the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent. is:

An undergarment of light and sheer knitted stocking fabric such as silk and designed to nt closely the upper portion of the body of the wearer below the shoulders and comprising two similar main sections of` flat knit fabric, each of said sections having angular and curved portions at the upper corners thereof to form portions of arm seyes in the finished garment, said arm seyes also having reinforced and fashioned portions of the fabric substantially parallel with the edges thereof, said sections being fashioned by being constricted at the Waist portions thereof to conform to the boch' contour at such points, and said main sections being attached together along their respective longitudinal selvage edges and having shoulder straps attached adjacent the arm scyes to form a complete garment of the required shape.

CLARKE W. TOBIN. 

